Teacher Prep Becomes Fodder for U.S. News College Guide

U.S. News and World Report, the newsmagazine that bestows uniquely influential college and graduate school rankings, has now turned its attention to the world of graduate teacher preparation. But, fear not, ed programs. The new book contains no lists of bests or worsts.

Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Teacher, by Ben Wildavsky and the staff of U.S. News, mostly lays out the nuts and bolts for college graduates who think they want to become teachers. There is a chapter-long examination of "The Trouble with Teaching—and How to Fix It," but also advice about alternative routes into the profession, selecting the right school and paying for it, and getting licensed.

The second part of the book "indexes" education programs and teaching locales by various criteria—such as the programs’ size, and, for the locales, pay—but it stops short of ranking the schools. (Education Week, incidentally, was the source of some of this information.)

The book will be updated every other year, according to Mr. Wildavsky. It costs $18.95 and is available at bookstores.